OpenFields

Nutrition and fertilisers

Fertilisers are plant nutrient substances given to improve plant growth rates and to boost the yields of crops. However, feeding plants is not always necessary. Soils vary in their nutrient levels. Sandy soils and chalky soils, for example, tend to be lower in nutrients than clay or loam soils. Soils also vary in the availability of nutrients. Soils that are dry, waterlogged, very acid or very alkaline may not allow plants to access existing nutrients. Correcting these factors (where possible) may be more effective than giving fertiliser, and in fact may be necessary for fertilisers to be effective.